Artworks

Bomb Middle England by Banksy depicts a British stereotype: a group of old ladies playing bowls on the green in the English countryside. However, in Banksy’s version the bowls have been replaced by cannon balls with lit fuses. A possible reference to war in a period of British military engagement in Iraq alongside US troops.

Love Is In The Air, also known as Flower Thrower, appeared for the first time in Jerusalem in 2003 as a stencil; it was painted on the wall built to separate the Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank. The artist sees the wall as something that “...essentially transforms Palestine into the largest open-air prison in the world.” The same year, Banksy made the print version exhibited here, set against a red background and transforms the image from a  violent outcome of the young activist, placing a bunch of flowers in his hand, a symbol of peace and beauty. In his book Wall and Piece, the artist commented that, “The biggest crimes in the world aren’t committed by people who break the laws, but by those who follow the laws.”

Weston Super Mare by Banksy is one of the artist's earliest subjects, depicting an elderly person seated on a bench with their hands crossed over their knees and walking cane. The subject seems to be enjoying the solitude, unaware of the gigantic circular saw coming at them. The image appeared for the first time in 2000, painted as a stencil on canvas, at the exhibition at the Severnshed Bar in Bristol.  The work was long-considered cryptic until Banksy opened Dismaland in 2015, his enormous installation theme park in Weston-Super-Mare, a seaside town for families in southern England. Perhaps Weston-Super-Mare is where the artist spent part of his childhood, and the image embodies the unpleasant memory that he’s had of it all these years? Some believe that one of the possible interpretations is that it’s a reference to memento mori, an invitation to enjoy every moment as death can strike at any time.